My Progress

1. Read 200 books.
The counter here represents a space for each of the 200 books.  You'll be able to access a full list and reviews of my reads over at my book blog, Blatant Bibliophilia.

128 / 200

2. Make a quilt for each of my kids.
The first quilt I ever made was a Superman quilt for Liam's bed.  Ideally, I'd like to make him another one to go with this goal.  But for the time being, we're going to call it 1 down, 3 to go.

1 / 4


3. Visit 40 states and tell the stories of something I did in each.
I'm not actually crazy enough to try to visit 40 states in the next 4 years.  I'm counting states that I've already visited--I just have to tell those stories.  Then I need to visit enough states to make up the difference to 40.  How many states have I actually visited?  No idea.  Guess I'll have to delve into my past photo albums to find out.

22 / 40

4. Hit and maintain my goal weight.
I'm not about to share my current weigh on the internet, but I will tell you that my goal weight is 30 pounds lighter than my current weight.

0 / 30

5. Be debt-free (except for our house).
Again, not going to share the current total amount of debt on the internet.... but I will share that we have five current sources of debt, so I will share when each of those sources is paid off.

0 / 5

6. Run a 5K.
Running it on my treadmill doesn't count.  It has to be in an actual race or event of some sort.

0 / 1

7. Create a piece of art to hang in our home.
That means it can't be ugly.  :)

0 / 1

8. Take the kids to either DisneyWorld or Disneyland.
They've been begging.  Plus I really want to go.

0 / 1

9. Take a class in something I am interested in, just for the fun of it.
While I may be interested in them, classes I take toward my masters degree don't count.

0 / 1

10. Own our own home.
Or, by some incredible miracle, move back to Camp Tecumseh.

0 / 1

11. Go on a "grown-up" vacation.
This could be with Ben, with a friend, or by myself.  The main stipulation is no kids allowed, followed closely by the consideration that it must be to a location that is interesting to me.

0 / 1

12. Make lists of 40 things I love and appreciate about each of my children.
That means 4 separate lists.... which comes out to 160 items.

0 / 4

13. Have $4000 or more in savings (after #5 and #10).
I'm all for accountability, but I feel a little weird posting my bank balance on the internet.  I'll let you know when I'm there.  Please note that this one can't be accomplished until after #5 and #10.

0 / 1

14. Go on a missions trip.
No requirements on length or location.

0 / 1

15. Meet an author I admire face-to-face.
I've already started frequenting the blogs of various authors for their touring schedules.  I am so excited about this one!

0 / 1

16. Take each of my children on a one-on-one trip (at least overnight) to a place that interests them.
I want to be intentional about spending one-on-one fun time with my kids as they get older.

0 / 4

17. Earn a masters degree.
Currently 15 credits down, 21 to go on my Masters of Library Science, waiting for re-admission to the program after 1.5 years off.

36 / 36
18. Let a hair stylist do a bold cut on me with no instructions.
I do not even have words for how terrifying this is to me.

1 / 1

19. Learn to long-arm quilt.
Right now I know how to do the fronts of my quilts but have to send them to my more-talented friends to get "finished."  I'd like to know how to do the whole process myself.

0 / 1

20. Eat a salad made entirely of items I have grown in my own garden.
Of course, it would be helpful if I had a place to plant said garden.  (We currently live in a rental house....)

0 / 1

21. Perform in a play.
No requirements on the size of the part.

0 / 1

22. Go on 40 outings just for me.

4 / 40

23. Read 3 books in each of the following genres: art, business, history, politics, and science.
This challenged was issued by my friend Andrea with the idea of "broadening my horizons."  Challenge accepted.  However, these 15 will count as part of the 200 mentioned in #1.

0 / 15

24. Write a novel.
In my younger years, this was a deep and passionate dream of mine.  In more recent years, life has kind of beaten it out of me.  Luckily, I have three dear friends from those younger years (Melissa, Maria, and Pam) who all extended this as a challenge when they got word that I was creating this list.  My novel doesn't have to get published or anything.  I just have to write it.
I suspect that once I make a plan on this, I will divide it down into more manageable goals....

0 / 1

25. Learn to crochet and complete a project I'm proud of.
I'm an avid knitter, but the skill of crocheting has always eluded me.  Time to change that.

0 / 1

26. Volunteer 40 times.
No specified location.  In fact, the more locations, the better.

16 / 40

27. Learn to braid hair.
My mom didn't know how to braid hair, and she tells me that her mom didn't know how either.  So I come by my lack of knowledge honestly.  But I've got two adorable daughters who want adorable hair. And it would be nice if I could actually do something with mine as well.  So, time to learn.

0 / 1

28. Attend 4 live musical performances.
Any genre is fine.

1 / 4

29. Complete 4 Bible studies.
In theory, 1 Bible study a year should be quite manageable.  But I have a really bad habit of starting Bible studies and then not finishing them.  So this one is all about the follow-through.

0 / 4

30. Get the Dunlap Clan together for a reunion.
This is my group of high school friends.  I was blessed with the most amazing, fun, supportive friends that a girl could ask for during my high school years.  Those friendships endured long past high school, and those friends all just happened to marry people that I really love too.  We used to be fantastic about visiting each other frequently, but this got a LOT harder once we all started to have kids.  But sometime within the next four years, it's time to get the Clan back together for a visit!

0 / 1

31. Read one Christian book a month.
Challenge extended by my dad (who, ahem, may not exactly understand my deep love for YA lit).  Challenge accepted, but as with #23, these books will count as my total of 200 mentioned in #1.

1 / 48

32. Watch and discuss the "Love & Respect" DVD series.
Challenge also extended by my dad, and gladly accepted.

0 / 3

33.  Reduce my daily pill count by at least 4.
I take daily meds for my thyroid, migraines, high cholesterol, and food allergies, just to name the major culprits.  I deeply want to cut down on this number.  Of course, that requires making notable strides in my health first...

0 / 4

34. Read the entire Bible.
Those "read the Bible in a year" programs never seem to work for me.  I have read it several times before; it was always just on my timeline.  So now it's time to do it again--on my timeline.

0 / 66

35. Complete 40 organizational projects.
My initial thought was to say "1 per month," but that seems like a good way to guarantee that I miss a month and mess up this list.  So I'm going with 40, with gives me a little bit of grace (and also happens to be a convenient number to my theme).

1 / 40

36. Complete 40 creative projects.
Same reasoning as #35.

2 / 40

37. Make time weekly to relax and refresh by spending time reconnecting with friends.
My friends are incredibly important to me.  They are my touchstones in this crazy life.  Yet far too often, when I should be spending time with them, I end up doing some mundane, everyday, easily forgotten thing instead.  So the idea behind this goal is to be intentional about my friendships, and to make sure that I'm recharging my soul by spending time with friends every week--which includes reaching out to friends I haven't connected with in far too long and getting back in touch with them.  This "time spent" can be a phonecall to catch up or an actual get-together.  It's not so much about what we do, but about refreshing myself in that friend's presence.

13 / 208

38. Create a family cookbook full of tried-and-true recipes that I'm not allergic to and the kids will actually eat.
As I start on this journey, I have recently discovered food allergies to wheat, corn, mushrooms, and pistachios, as well as a sensitivity to peanuts.  This means that pretty much all of my old go-to recipes don't work anymore, and eating out is no longer an option.  It also means that I have a new understanding of how the food I've always thought of as "healthy" actually isn't.... and a long road to travel in learning new recipes to fit my new lifestyle.  Of course, I also have four very picky kiddos.  Wish me luck on this one!

0 / 1

39. Find my own role at Camp Tecumseh.
My relationship with camp spans nearly 25 years.  It is definitely not short or simple to explain.  Click here for the highlights of my history.  In 2011, my husband and I experienced a clear spiritual calling to uproot our family and move to camp for a new kind of life.  You can read about that here and here.  We lived at camp for 3 1/2 wonderful years--not without struggles, but wonderful nonetheless.  And then things ended, which you can read about here.  But even during the time that we were at camp, I struggled to find my own place to fit in, my own role to play, my own contribution to make.  Even after everything that has happened, I still love camp as much as I did when I was 11 years old and still long to find my own role there.  I hope that role is more than just a mom who drops off her own kids once a year for summer camp and waves at staff members I used to know as I pull out of the lot.  I think I have a lot to give and want to find a way to remain active there even if we're not living there.  But whatever my role is meant to be, I want to find peace with it within the next 4 years.

0 / 1

40. Read all the children's books we own to my kids.
Though it may not sound like it, this is probably the most vague goal on my list.  We have a LOT of children's books at our house--some of which we've owned since our oldest child was born (or even have kept since I was a kid!) and have never read, while the favorites get read over and over again.  So that goal is simple enough: read each book with my kids.  I'm not saying that all 4 kids have to be present for each reading; just me and a kid and a book each time.... my real goal here is time spent with the kids.  My problem here is that I'm not really sure where to cut off my definition of "children's books" (#librarianproblems, right?).  How far do I venture into the chapter books under this definition?  And the answer is--I'll decide when I get there.  Four years is a long time from now.  I'll have to wait and see what my kids' reading abilities and maturity levels are four years from now, and I'll decide based on that.
For the time being, I'm putting up a counter of 1000 for this.  I actually have no idea how many children's books we own, but I figure it's definitely not more than 1000, so when I eventually lower that total to be accurate, I'll be pleasantly surprised at how far I've gotten. :)

50 / 1000

1 comment:

  1. I can help with the Mission Trip. I believe our church Mission Trip travels to New Mexico this year, a Navajo reservation in Shiprock. I'll go if you go! Maybe that will add to your States goal, too! Also, want to train for the Mini. They have a 5K. We could train together!

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